No Son of Mine
by Chyna Rose
Summary: What I think Upchuck's motivation is for his behavior. Contains some curssing. Please r


No Son of Mine  
By Chyna Rose  
Disclaimer: I don't own Daria- just the idea   
why Upchuck acts like he does.  
  
It's hard being a Ruttheimer. Or at   
least it's hard to be me. My name is   
Charles Ruttheimer the Third, but most   
people call me Upchuck. To be honest, I   
prefer the latter to the former. Upchuck is   
a name that suits who I pretend to be; who   
my father wants me to be.  
My father. Charles Ruttheimer the Second.   
At times, I wish we weren't related. I know   
he does.   
He won't let me live my life the way I   
want to. Not because it's what's best for   
me, but because he's afraid. Deathly   
afraid. He's so afraid that I will   
disappoint him; turn out differently then   
what he wants. 'No son of mine…' and all   
that crap.  
It all started when he saw that I wasn't   
dating much. Or rather at all. And I was   
doing it at a time when other boys my age   
were starting to. More specifically the   
sons of his business associates. To be   
honest, I wasn't all that interested in   
romance. I'd rather be off playing some rpg   
or watching a sci-fi marathon on tv. Or   
hacking skeletons to pieces on the computer.   
Or, better yet, making one myself. I just   
didn't want to date. I liked being plain   
friends with girls. If any seemed to be   
even the smallest bit interested in my   
hobbies.  
I'll admit, I was a nerd. Am a nerd.   
But my father didn't understand that. He   
didn't understand how I could be happy   
blowing monsters up with a tom boy half a   
world away. Especially since I didn't mind   
the fact nothing came of it. It was about   
that time he first gave the 'no son of mine'   
speech. And I took it to heart, because in   
truth, I was like he wanted. I began   
seeking out girls in school who seemed open   
to being friends with me- or those girls who   
had a talent I could use to help me make my   
game. Not many were interested in even that   
much. Most were popularity freaks who   
couldn't come up with one single creative   
idea even if their life depended on it. The   
others… I just wasn't part of their crowd.   
And when it comes down to it, no-one wants   
to open up to someone outside of their   
crowd. I did make one or two new female   
friends, and a number of guy friends, but   
the girls were didn't mind just being   
friends. And neither did I.   
But my father wasn't happy. So I started   
to try to get closer to them. Slowly. A   
few group dates with the whole gang plus   
some extra. In fact, I think I was falling   
in love.   
Eve. Daria reminds me so much of her;   
the wit, sharpness of tongue, the love of a   
verbal spar… Eve wasn't pretty- not by   
today's standards. Eve was more suited to   
the Renascence era; gentle curves and soft   
lines. She was my shrew, my Kate. How to   
soon she was my Eurydice.   
Eve entered immortality at 7:55 p.m.   
on a Saturday in May. The victim of a   
drunk football hero behind the wheel of a   
car he never learned how to drive. Tommy   
Sherman, breaking at least three laws,   
mowed her down without a thought- and   
without a consequence. Eve wasn't   
popular. She was my equal in every way.   
She was the only person I could see   
spending the rest of my life with. And   
when you are just beginning high school,   
that is saying a lot. Eve was the glue   
that held my small circle of friends   
together. Without her, we fell apart.   
Andrea fell in with a group of Goths and   
I never spoke to her again. You see, she   
blamed me for Eve's death. Eve was   
coming over to see me to plan our next   
D&D campaign and maybe see Star Trek V   
again.   
After Eve's death, I withdrew. It   
scared my mother. She thought I would   
join Eve prematurely. I didn't talk to   
girls much, simply because I didn't know   
how. And I didn't have the courage to   
even try without my better half. I   
didn't find girls that interesting   
anymore, anyway. Not that I liked guys   
mind you. It's just that I held all   
girls up to Eve. And no girl can compare   
with the dead. Death erases all flaws.  
My father didn't understand. He   
pushed me to date, when I was still   
mourning over my loss. He told me how to   
go after women by using himself as an   
example. He pushed me to see girls as   
nothing more than sex objects. Made me   
be an annoying little ass who would come   
on to anything vaguely female. Forced me   
to desecrate Eve's memory by threatening   
me to do as he said or befall great harm.   
The first time I was called Upchuck, I   
was happy. Ever since I started to act   
like my father, I knew I didn't deserve   
the name Charles. And I will proudly be   
Upchuck until I can redeem myself.  
You see, my father is afraid that I'm   
gay simply because I don't date girls.   
His fear won't allow me to go about   
dating my own way. Won't let me search   
out my Eve in Eden. He keeps telling me   
'no son of mine is going to be a fucking   
faggot'. But I can't really blame him.   
I've seen the way he catches himself   
checking out other guys. I've seen the   
scares from where his father beat the   
evil out of him, and from where he tried   
to cut it out himself. He wants me to be   
what he should have been, so much so,   
that he goes overboard in his zeal. My   
grandfather refused to have a faggot for   
a son and proved his point with my   
father's blood.   
My father knows violence is not the   
answer, but he can't deal with the   
thought that I might become him, Every   
time I look at him, I can hear him say   
one simple sentence. No son of mine is   
going to be what I didn't have the   
strength to be. And in my heart I know,   
that no son of mine is going to be what I   
was forced to be. Eve forgive me if I   
ever become my father.  
  
Author's Note: Is it just me, or does   
Upchuck try to hard to be strait. Not that   
I'm saying he isn't. Just that he goes   
overboard. I'm sure that if he dropped the   
act, and I'm sure it's an act, he'd find   
someone who wouldn't reject him. It kinda   
makes you think, doesn't it.  



End file.
